Key 18, The Moon
Key 18 – The Moon:
Under the light of the full Moon, a dog and a wolf bay, while a lobster emerges from a pool. Key 18 is attributed to the Water sign of Pisces, which is associated with the key of B major. The keynote for Pisces from Esoteric Astrology is “I leave the Father’s home and turning back, I save.” This Key is associated with the Hebrew letter Qoph, the Back of the Head, which in the Sefer Yetzirah is attributed to the Corporeal Intelligence, and with the quality of sleep.
This piece is scored for string quartet. The overall mood is rather dreamy. An introductory gently rocking theme in 4/4 time, Lento, is followed by a section in 3/4 time, Moderato, with pulsating eighth notes played against a waltz tune. A set of chromatic scales is then set against pizzicato strings. The opening theme returns, again in Lento in 4/4 time. The piece is comprised of 5 dreams, and is 2:05 minutes long.
Dr. Curtiss Hoffman is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts. He has been an IASD member since 1996, and has frequently presented papers at annual IASD conferences, often based upon his own database of dreams. He is Chair of the IASD Student Research Awards Committee.
Since the 2021 IASD Conference, I have been working on a project to produce music for each of the 78 Tarot cards derived from my dreams. The project is now relatively complete. To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of IASD, I am offering a musical selection every month from this set, with the cards which correspond to the 12 signs of the zodiac, starting with Aquarius.
I, Curtiss Hoffman, am the copyright owner of the twelve .mp3 format musical selections from the Musical Dream Tarot (entitled Keys 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, and 18) which I am giving the International Association for the Study of Dreams, Inc., permission to use on its website during 2023.